Henning Solberg loses third place

He had been struggling with an intermittent engine cut-out since Saturday afternoon. As the problem worsened this morning, Mikko Hirvonen closed to within 22 seconds of Solberg's third place, and then grabbed the position when the Norweigan lost another five minutes in the first stage after service.

"It stopped several times," Solberg explained. "I had to get out of the car and disconnect a cable, and then I couldn't shut the door again. Everything is bad now, but this is rallying."

The delay has dropped Solberg to seventh overall, and has given Hirvonen a clear run at the podium - a vital result for the Finn given that Sebastien Loeb is on course to win the rally and take the points lead.

"It looks like unfortunately Henning still has some problems," said Hirvonen. "Now it's just cruising to the finish.

"If I can keep this position, it will be fantastic. Sebastien will only pass me by one point, which will be good."

With two full-length stages and a superspecial remaining, Loeb leads Petter Solberg by 1:11.7, with Hirvonen two and a half minutes behind the leader.

Urmo Aava has now moved up to fourth in the Estonian World Rally Team Citroen, and is currently resisting the challenge of works C4 driver Dani Sordo.